Whilst this may still look like a hip hop dance class to the untrained eye (and heavily overlaps and gives/takes influence from hip hop styles), many of our teachers also love incorporating global street styles like dancehall and afrobeats that hail from the likes of Jamaica, Nigeria and Latin America. Here are some examples of global street dance styles that you might get to taste in class.
Dancehall
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican pop-culture that sprung up in the 1970s. By the 2000s the music culture became dominated by dance culture where the dance steps, according to some, became just as important as the music.
Dancers became artists themselves, the most influential person to start this movement being Gerald “Bogle” Levy, aka Mr Wacky. Mr Wacky created some of dancehall’s most iconic moves, including Bogle, World Dance and the Wacky Dip.
Several of our teachers love their dancehall and it’s not unusual to experience a stint of classes that touch on female steps, badman styles and dancehall foundations to banging Jamaican riddims.
Recently, dancehall has become more complex with the immediacy of the internet and these basic party steps are becoming more nuanced routines. This is very reflective of how so many street dance styles morph as they enter the studio context.
In the video below you can see how class starts with that ‘feeling’ as many dancehallers describe it, which basically is that chilled effortless groove. Everyone begins by enjoying party dances together before the video culminates in a full choreography.
Afrobeats
Afrobeat is a music genre that blends West African musical styles with jazz, soul, funk and, in more contemporary tracks, electronic music. These days you could say that Afrobeat is a mix of African music with Western-pop and the dance moves that go along with it are so.damn.fun.
If you’d like to continue stalking, our favourite instagram account that canvases new school Afrobeat is @chopdaily
Passinho
Passinho hails from the favelas of Brazil, a street dance in which power was given to the men who either identified as ‘drug dealers’ or ‘dancers’. Much like new-school dancehall, the style developed just as much through the internet as the streets. Kids took heavy influence from global styles they saw on the internet, and also shared their own movement with the world, seeing their movement styles going viral.
Other styles
Street dance styles list in the thousands, from Kuthu dance in Tamil Nadu (India) to Reggaeton throughout Latin America, The black and queer origins of Vogue in New York and Pantsula which hails from South Africa.
Whilst Groove Therapy beginner adult classes focus mainly on styles that fall under the hip hop and house umbrella, some of our teachers are well versed in these other styles and are prone to teaching you some of the key moves of a particular genre of dance whilst explaining the roots and music to you.
Want to book class? Do it! You can also check out our hip hop and house break downs via the online school.